


Day at the Beach

by castone



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-14
Updated: 2012-07-14
Packaged: 2017-11-09 23:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/459550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castone/pseuds/castone





	1. Invitation

To: John Shepard

From: Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

Subject: Something Exciting!

SHEPARD!

I have some exciting news! The fourth stage of my treatments is finally over! I no longer need to wear my suit here on the homeworld at all, even when people from off world are around me! I'm so excited! Garrus is happy too now that when he comes around that I can greet him face to face without getting looks. I know the Admirals and Captains are not stupid, but appearances, you know.

The best thing about me clearing the fourth stage though is now I am able to go to the oceans and swim in the water! Sure, it'll have to be at a special bay that has a barrier in that blocks the micro-organisms of the sea, but, that doesn't matter. Ever since I've laid eyes on the emerald oceans of my world, I've wanted so bad to swim in them, and now I can. This is something very special for me, and I want to share it with people who mean a lot to me, so, will you and the Major come? Obviously, EDI and Joker are invited too. I'm trying to get together as much of the old squad as possible. It has been four years, so I don't know if everybody can make it, and I understand that, but, honestly, it would not be the same if you and Kaidan were not here with me and Garrus for this, at least. The four of us, we've seen so much, done so much together. You're part of my family. Anyways, I know you're retired from the Alliance but still a Spectre, but like you told me, it's more symbolic that you actually being at the council's call all the time, so it's not like there's a lot of reasons left where you can say no without me having to come chase you down.

Let me know something soon, okay?

Tali

P.S.- Garrus even bought a turian bathing suit for this!

***

Shepard broke out laughing at his desk. "Oh, I can't miss that."

"Can't miss what?"

Shepard rolled his chair to the left a bit so his field of vision wasn't blocked by his model case. Lying in Shepard's bed, under the sheets, was Kaidan. He had been reading a novel on his datapad, but, the sudden burst of laugher from Shepard had caught his attention.

"The sight of our friend Garrus in a turian bathing suit." He couldn't even say the words without laughing.

The man in the bed's jaw dropped further and further as his face twisted as he tried to wrap his head around the idea. Finally, he got some words out. "Turians… have bathing suits?" Even as straight-faced as Kaidan could be sometimes, he couldn't help but bust out into a low, deep laugh. "You're right, I don't think that's a sight someone could easily pass up. So, where are we going to get to see it at?"

"Rannoch. Tali finished the fourth stage of her adaptation treatments, and now she can go to the beach."

"The beachs of Rannoch?" There was a bit of nostalgia in Kaidan's tone. "Hm… now, that's a place we haven't been in a while. And, no Reaper-controlled geth is a big plus too."

"Yeah…" Shepad's voice trailed off into a deep, unhappy memory as his eyes trailed off to somewhere far, far away.

Still four years after the fact, anything about the war with the Reapers was an odd subject to mention around Shepard. Some days, he himself would go on and on about certain missions like taking out Cerberus bases, saving people from swarms of husks, and a few others here and there. But, then some things brought back bad memories.

Not even Kaidan, the person in the galaxy that knew Shepard the most, could tell every little thing that could possibly pull up the bad memories, but, he knew he just had, and, he knew of what. "John… I'm… I'm sorry. I know you're thinking about Legion right now." Kaidan slid out of the covers of the bed and walked over to Shepard, then kneeled in front of the man sitting in the chair, pushed his hair that had grown out quite a bit over the years out of the way, and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I know you have so many bad memories, that war really… fucked us all up. Every place I can think of, I have more bad memories of than good ones. But, remember how when you came back to me, after you survived the explosion of the Citadel and said we had all the time in the universe for ourselves? And do you remember what I said back? That now that we had time to make some good memories together, to balance out the bad ones. Legion was a good friend to you, but, I know that he wouldn't want you to be like this. Rannoch was his homeworld too, so I'm sure he would have wanted you to not to think of the bad that happened there, to what he did for peace between his and Tali's people."

Shepard's dark blue eyes came back from that faraway place, and met Kaidan's hazel-y brown eyes as a slight smile came across his face. "Kaidan… I…"

Kaidan placed a finger over Shepard's lips. "Just nod your head that I'm right and you agree you'll stop thinking about the bad things that have happened for now, because we're about to make some good ones with our friends soon."

Shepard nodded.

"Good." Kaidan said smoothly as he stood up and grabbed Shepard by the wrist, pulled him of the chair, and started leading him to the bed "now, before you send an email to Tali, let's make a few quick good memories and then, after, browse the extranet for some some clothes. Last time I checked, neither of us had anything to go to the beach in."

Shepard smiled a coy smile. "Hey, aren't you forgetting something? You're supposed to be contacting the Council soon, Spectre Alenko."

"Am I now, Mr. Shepard?" Kaidan pulled the two onto the bed, then, with his free hand, he reached it back and fiddled a bit before finding and pressing a button. "Hey, EDI?"

"Yes, Kaidan?" the voice of the ship's AI came over the intercom.

"Do you think you could do some maintenance on the QEC. Something that will take about, oh, I don't know, about 20-30 minutes?"

There was a slight pause before EDI replied. "There has been a .0004 second lag in vocal synchronization. I will rewrite the programing code and install it. It will take 24 minutes to complete."

Kaidan gave a lustful smile to Shepard. "That's perfect, EDI. Thank you."

"You are welcome, Kaidan. " And, with a beep, she was gone.

"Now…" Kaidan began moving his face closer to Shepard's "what can we do in 24 minutes?"

Shepard suddenly rolled so that he was pinning down Kaidan. "Oh, I can think of a few things" he replied with a playful tone before he brought his lips down upon Kaidan's.


	2. Gathering Pt. 1

Since both the quarians and the geth had come to the aid of the Council and the Alliance in not only war against the Reapers but now in the current rebuilding of the Mass Relay network, the quarians had regained their embassy on the rebuilt Citadel. The sudden surge of their importance had made Rannoch a rather central place in the recovering galaxy, and, as Staff Lieutenant James Vega stepped out of the decontamination room, it was quite apparent by how busy the space port of Qwib Qwib was. The decontamination room was seriously the only pain about this place; it was a 2 ½ hour process that was a little… unpleasant… at times, and he was pretty sure that his already tight Alliance dress blues were shrunk somehow. He understood the necessity of it, though. He knew a quarian very well. How prone she use to be too infection and illness from the smallest of particles, and how much of a risk it was for her to do even half the things she had done with him and the rest of Loco's squad back in the day. Her invitation was part of the reason he was here today.

The other parts were orders.

Oh, and there was that tiny bit of him that was curious about what the hell a turian bathing suit looked like. Every extranet search he tried had come up with nothing.

Vega looked down at his omni-tool. He was early. That was good, it gave him time to grab himself a bite to eat. He made his way over to the eatery of the space port, the one that served levo-protein based food, and stepped up to the line counter. There was a woman with shoulder-length black hair and dressed in a skin-tight black and white body suit with knee-high black boots, and a really, really, REALLY nice ass. She was arguing with the quarian counter person, wearing a light enviro-suit, something many quarians in the space port wore for extra precaution.

"I ordered this without Thessian onions. The order receipt says 'no Thessian onions'. Out of everything in the known galaxy that is levo-protien-based, I'm only allergic to one thing: Thessian onions. Now, tell me, what in the Traverse does this look like to you?" Even with her smooth accent, her words were sharp.

"Um… Thessian onions?" the quarian had a very youthful and unconcerned voice. She sounded like a teenager from Earth, quite honestly.

"And we have a winner!" she exclaimed sarcastically before she half-assed re-wrapped her sandwich and threw it on the counter. "Remake it."

With that, she effortless spinned on one of the high heels of her boots, and nearly slammed right into Vega.

"Oh, pardon me..." She said, in a much different tone than she had been using. It was rather odd, actually, since it shifted from somewhat normal to, well, Vega wasn't quite sure. A bit of fear? Nah, what did she have to be afraid about with him?

"No problem, ma'am. I was probably standing too close, so it's my fault."

She seemed nervous. Her brilliant blue eyes began looking him over, examining him, and thinking. Then, just as sudden as her voice had changed oddly, she became a bit relaxed, as if she had examined him and deemed him not a threat. "Let's not fret over little things."

This was getting odd, Vega thought. Sure, she had a banging hot body, a face to match, and a damn nice accent, but, she was seriously all over the place in the head. And, what was even odder, James was starting to get a very odd sense of déjà vu, like, he had met this woman before. He pushed the thoughts into the back of his mind, though. "Yeah, sure."

There was a very awkward moment of silence

"Your sandwich."

Vega and the woman both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm gonna get my food." She said as she turned around to retrieve her sandwich, and to give the counter girl a very harsh promise of reporting her to her manager. When she was done, she quickly walked past Vega and off to who knows where.

Vega, still confused, decided it was just best left alone. All this trying to figure out what that woman's deal was made him even hungrier. He finally stepped up to the counter. "I want three #5's, with no Thessian onions…."

***

Vega completely understood why that strange woman was flipping out on the restaurant, at least. He wasn't allergic like she said she was, but, he still didn't want the Thessian onions. They always ruined the flavor of the sandwiches in his opinion. He still ate his food without taking it back, though, it wasn't worth the hassle. He had just checked his omni-tool, and was gathering his bags again and heading towards the entrance of the space port, and, as soon as the door opened, he almost walked right into someone.

A woman.

With black hair.

In a white body suit.

And an ass like 'damn'.

"I'm sorry, again, ma'am" Vega said to her.

She waved her hand up, "Don't worry about it. I was just waiting for an old acquaintance."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Vega said, trying to make awkward conversation. "My friend should be getting here now."

They both started looking around, trying to find something to take their attention away. Vega was now starting to get uncomfortable. Just then, he saw her, his ride.

"There she is."  
"There she is."

He could have sworn the woman had just said the same thing as him. He looked down to look at her with a look of confusion. To his shock, she was looking up at him with the exact same look.

"You know Liara?"  
"You know Dr. T'soni?"

"How do you know her?"  
"How do you know her?"

"We worked together."  
"We worked together."

"Why do you keep saying everything I'm saying?"  
"Why do you keep saying everything I'm saying?"

"My head hurts."  
"This is ridiculous."

"Liara, how do you know this woman?"  
"Dr. T'soni, how do you know this meathead?"

By the look on Liara's face, it seemed as if she had known this was going to happen. "I suggested to Tali that she should have told one of you to take an earlier shuttle in. I wouldn't of have had a problem coming here more than once."

Vega was about to ask a question when the woman held a hand up near his mouth and began to talk instead. "I would like to know what's going on here. Why is an Alliance N7 marine here waiting for you to take him to Tali's home too?"

"It's obvious, Miranda; because she invited him to the celebration too. That, and his next assignment is on the Normandy to receive additional training from Major Alenko and Shepard, but that's classified information, correct, James?"

If he wasn't well aware of Liara's position as the Shadow Broker, he would have been more shocked than he was. "It is! Don't go spreading it about to civilians."

"Don't get your panties in a twist." Miranda shot a dismissing look at Vega. "Like I wouldn't of have found out that some N7 marine wasn't getting training for potential Spectre consideration on the Normandy. I talk with EDI at least twice a week. We're even in the same extranet book club."

The man brought his hand to his head, the pain the confusion caused him was very apparent now.

Miranda sighed as she cocked her hip. "Liara, please explain this to the human-krogan hybrid here before he strains his few brain cells he has remaining, because I'm pretty sure I have everything figured out now."

Liara sighed. "You could be a bit nicer, Miranda." The woman in white didn't pay much mind to the comment, so Liara turned her attention to Vega. "Miranda is the former head of the Lazarus Cell: the team of scientist who brought Shepard back to life after the collectors destroyed the original Normandy. Yes, she was affiliated with them, but, that partnership ended after she assisted Shepard destroyed the Collector's base."

Suddenly, a memory came flashing back into Vega's mind. "A few of crew members mentioned something about you, the ones who had served before the Alliance got the Normandy back! I even remember seeing some footage you too, during the debriefing in the shuttle bay after Shepard returned from Sanctuary."

Miranda eyed the man up and down, somewhat confused. "I have to ask: where you born mentally damaged or did you just get one too many blows to the head? I'm pretty sure everyone in the Alliance gets debriefed about me every few months, how I'm to be brought in. I trust Shepard's crew, but I still had to have Liara pull a lot of strings to get me in this system for a few days."

Vega shrugged. "Eh, I think I remember something about that, but, if Tali invited you here, and Liara and Loco can vouch for you…"

"Excuse me," Miranda interrupted, "who the hell is 'Loco'?"

"Oh, that'll be the former Commander, ma'am." He replied with curtsey. "Anyways, I don't really give a damn about what the rest of the Alliance with you. I've met other people who quit Cer… I mean, them. They were pretty alright. So, if my friends are your friends, then, we should be friends."

It looked like Miranda was just trying to be angry still, but, finally, she just sighed. "You're a rather simple meathead, aren't you?"

Vega just laughed. "I've been called a lot worse."

Miranda let out a sigh of defeat.

Liara let out a sigh of relief. "That went surprisingly better than I thought it would." She then looked at her omni-tool. "It's still about an hour before Shepard and the group from the Normandy gets here. Do you two want to grab a bite to eat."

"Actually," Vega began, "Me and Miranda actually first bumped into each other while getting food, so I think we're both good, though, I might hit the bar to see if they have any good cerveza."

"I could go for a rather stiff drink, actually." Miranda said at the mention of alcohol.

Liara sighed. "Well, I'm getting something to eat. I'm in the mood for something with Thessian onions."

"Gross"  
"Vile"


	3. Gathering Pt.2

There is a long list of advantages of having Spectre status. Use of the VIP decontamination rooms were one of the most recent developments. In and out in about 30-40 minutes, and you didn't have to go through it with anyone else, unless you wanted to.

Kaidan and Shepard were the first ones to clear the room and make it to the main lobby of the port.

"I didn't realize quarian decontamination could be so… thorough." Kaidan said, almost blushing.

"Oh, come on, Kaidan." Shepard grinned. "It wasn't that bad. Anyways, what's the big deal, they were geth, it's not likely they're going to tell everyone about that mark on you…"

"LIARA!" Kaidan shouted excitedly as he waived, cutting off Shepard. He picked up his step and made his way over to his old friend to give her a hug. "It's been ages! How goes everything?"

The asari greeted her dear friend with welcoming arms. "Kaidan, it is so good to see you too." As soon as she let go, she smiled at him "Well, getting the obvious out of the way, the progress on the third book Javik and I have been working on is going rather well. We're expecting it to be ready for the publisher in about 2 months. Other than that, my other line of work has been going rather well, as you can tell by the stabilizing of the galactic economy. How about yourself, Kaidan?"

He laughed. "Oh, like I don't know. You probably have about an inch-thick dossier on me."

"Oh, that's just the one for this year, and just for your Spectre activities. It's as big as the one I have on you and Shepard's sex life, though."

Kaidan's face when from a look of just joking around to completely dumbstruck. "You're joking about the sex stuff, right?"

"Yes, Kaidan." Liara said as she placed a reassuring hand.

Kaidan gave a bit of a half-hearted laugh, then he noticed Vega nearby and went to greet him.

Shepard then walked right beside Liara and looked her dead in the eye. There was a half-cocked smile on his face. "The file on mine and Kaidan's sex life is way bigger than that, right?"

"Oh, of course, Shepard." She said with a bit of amusement in her voice. "And that's not including the near petabyte of vid. Seriously, Shepard, where do you come up with some of the things you two do sometimes?"

"Hey, you're a biotic too. Don't tell me that half of that stuff never crossed your mind even once?"

Before Liara had a chance to reply, someone else spoke up.

"Well, well. I always knew you had a bit of a kinky side, Shepard." The voice came from behind him and Liara, and it was one voice he was rather glad to hear.

Shepard turned around with a smile and his big arms wide open "Miranda!" It was the first time the two close friends had seen each other in four years, though he heard the occasional story about her from Kaidan. He then let go and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Kaidan said he saw you a few weeks ago when he had to go to Omega without me, he helped you shake the Alliance. What are you doing here? Isn't it a little risky for being in such a traveled city?" He then noticed the smell on her breath. "And have you been drinking without me again?"

"Only a couple of martinis" She almost heald up three fingers, but chose two instead. "I needed something to take the edge off after the stupidity I've dealt with today."

Shepard wanted to laugh so hard badly at that moment, but, thought it best to keep his humorous thoughts to himself for the time being and allowed her to continue."

"As for the risk of coming here, Tali wanted me, so we had Liara pull some strings." Miranda said with a warm smile. "Ever since Sanctuary, she started keeping in contact with me and Oriana. We grew close, and she helped me out a couple of times over the years with some geth hacking tech." Shepard raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, don't worry, I wasn't doing anything too illegal. These past few years, I've been leading some other ex-Cerberus personnel against some remaining pockets of those who still believe in the Illusive Man's more… radical ideals. The Reapers are dead, but, the technology that comprised them is still very much a threat."

John's easy-going expression became serious. "Miranda, you know if you every need help, I'm…"

"You're going to be on the Normandy, enjoying the benefits of retirement with your boyfriend. You saved the galaxy already, died once, and nearly died again if it wasn't for me getting ballsy with the Alliance brass." Miranda's words were kind, yet forceful. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Also, I don't need to owe you any more debts than I do already."

"What are all these serious faces about?" Kaidan came back over with Vega by his side. He was eyeing Shepard. "If I didn't know any better, it this kind of looks like John's trying to throw himself into a dangerous situation again."

"No, Kaidan." Miranda replied. "Just telling him how I've been dealing with some unfinished business perfectly fine with some other friends."

Kaidan looked at Miranda with an arched eyebrow. "Well, next time you're dealing with unfinished business, please be sure to be a bit more discreet about it. Charging though Omega with an Atlas has not been one of your smartest decisions, and I'm not always gonna be there to help you out."

Miranda shrugged. "I know, Kaidan, and I'm still grateful for your help. Honestly, though, it was that or riding a busted hover bike into that smuggler's den. I thought it turned out rather well, all things considered. You saw the completed data once I got the fragment from inside."

"That was you in that mech?" Vega shouted, somewhat enraged. "You nearly shot my head off!"

Miranda groaned. "Keep your voice down. And, if you have a problem with that, you should learn how to hide behind cover better."

All that he could do in response was try to mouth words.

Shepard let out a laugh before he turned to Liara. "So, other than the others that are still in decontamination, who else is coming?"

"Just us." Liara said, with a bit of a sad tone to her voice. "Jack sent a message basically saying she was too busy with her students, and that the beach wasn't her thing, but she did congratulate her and ended up sending a rather high-proof dextro-based brandy. Samara says her code does not permit such things as vacations, but sends her best regards. Javik isn't exactly the beach-faring type: too primitive, he says. Wrex is obviously too busy with the reconstruction of Tuchanka, while Grunt is actually expecting his eighth child this week. Kasumi is currently working, but, did send Tali this lovely statue for her house; an old quarian statue from before the war. Zaeed… well, I think Tali invited him only out of courteous, but, he declined. So, it is just us here, and the other four who should be coming out soon."

"So, Loco." Vega began, "who are we waiting for?"

Shepard was about to open his mouth to reply, but a voice behind him replied instead. "Just some old pals."

"Cortez!" James shouted. He ran up to his old friend and gave him a hug. "You son-of-a-bitch! I haven't heard from you in like 3 years! You're still aboard the Normandy?"

Steve just laughed as he re-adjusted the tote he was carrying. "Acutally, James, I took some time off, got re-acquainted with myself, ended up meeting someone good."

Vega laughed and gave his old friend a little love tap to the shoulder, though, maybe a little too hard. "So, tell me all the details. And how does he feel about you being on the Normandy?"

"Well, I can't tell you how Steve and his new boyfriend met," a feminine voice with a British accent spoke up, "but, I can tell you he has no problem with the posting, as he's the current Master-At-Arms on the Normandy."

"You're here too, Samantha?" Vega was even more surprised. "I never knew Tali and you had been close."

Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, James? She was a female on the Normandy, so of course Tali and I became friends. She knew I had a fascination with Quarian Art, and she knew I was still on the Normandy, so, when she sent Shepard and the Major their invitations she sent one to me as well." She then gave Vega a devilish smile as she walked up close to him and whispered into his ear "Plus, have you noticed the women who are going to be here? Like hell am I going to pass up going to a beach with them while they're in next to nothing!"

Vega shrugged. "Eh, honestly, I think I'm more interested in seeing what the hell a turian bathing suit is."

"Good point." Samantha replied, before she turned to Shepard. "I'm pretty sure EDI and Joker will be out soon. His screams of horror had begun to subside by the time my decontamination was done."

"Alright, then." Shepard said, with a n affirming with his head, before he turned to Liara. "So, do you know what the plan is?"

"Yes, Shepard. Tali and Garrus should be there at the beach by now. As soon as Joker and EDI are out of decontamination, we'll have our bags on ahead to Tali's place while we go to the beach for a few hours, so if you don't have your beach stuff in a different bag, you might want to pull it out now."

Steve patted the bag he was carrying. "Got everybody's stuff from the Normandy right here."

Miranda had a bag of her own she lifted, confirming she had done the same.

Vega's eye shifted a bit before he turned around, opened his tote, rustled a few things around, pulled out first a towel that he slung over his shoulder, and then he pulled out something rather small and blue, then stuffed it into the front pocket of his slacks. "Alright, good."

"Dear God, John" Kaidan whispered into the other man's ear "I think he has something skimpier than you."

Shepard just laughed.

For the remainder of the time before Joker and EDI came out from the decontamination, the group of old comrades just stood around with only a little bit of idle chit-chat here and there. It took a little longer than expected, but the two finally emerged from the doors of the arrival area, and after Joker made a few colorful comments about what he had been through, they were on their way.


	4. Changing

Even though the space port of Qwib Qwib was on the coastline, the beach where Tali was waiting for them at was about an hour south.

It seemed like it was a world away though.

The majority of Rannoch's floral life were clustered around the coasts and rivers, but from what little of the world the crew of the Normandy they never would have said it was lush. This beach, though, it was as if it was ripped right out of a vid from a tropical paradise resort on Earth. The 250 meter cliffs surrounding the lush greenery that cut into the water forming a large bay with a relatively small opening out to the rest of the ocean.

"Oh, my… this place is like a dream." Samantha Traynor said as she stepped out of the vehicle, slid off the sun glasses she had put on earlier and began to slowly spin around, taking in all of the surroundings with awe on her face.

As most everyone else got out of the transport and walked closer to the shore, Shepard stood there for a moment, looking, talking it in as well. He took in a deep breath, then smiled a smile of bliss.

"A chit for your thoughts." Kaidan was right behind Shepard, his hands gently wrapping around the other man and his mouth right by Shepard's ear.

Shepard turned around in Kaidan's arms and placed his hands on the other's hips. "Good ones." Their lips met.

"I believe the expression is 'get a room', Shepard." The teasing metallic voice could only belong to one of Shepard's closes friends.

Shepard turned his head to look at Garrus. This was a rare moment when the turian was not in his armor, but he still wasn't in his bathing suit yet. A grin formed on Shepard's face."Hey, lighten up, it's not like I'm doing this…" His arm suddenly shot around the small of Kaidan's back, catching him off-guard and allowing Shepard to fling him down into a long, passionate kiss.

"Hey, cool it boys, or I'll ask EDI to get some cold water to cool you two down." Joker limped over.

Shepard finally pulled up Kaidan, who was now out of breath but really wasn't complaining about it, and just laughed. "Fine, fine, I'll try my hardest to behave."

Garrus looked a Joker. "I give them 10 minutes."

Joker scoffed. "I give 'em 5."

Shepard just laughed.

***

Liara was walking beside EDI. "So, it seems that Joker's new treatments are working." She glanced back behind them to see Joker standing around with Garrus and Shepard laughing about something.

"Yes, Liara." EDI replied with a hint of pleasure in her synthesized voice. "Though the doctors have said he will still remain brittle, this new treatment is allowing Jeff to do more things on his own. Though he complains how people no longer wait on him 'hand and foot', my analysis of his vocal tones and internal chemical levels indicate that he is actually quite pleased about it."

"I am so glad Joker is happy, considering all that he has lost." Liara had been the one to give Joker the detailed reports of the events of the Moreau farm on Tiptree. Even though it broke her heart to see her dear friend in such pain, she had to be there with him face to face because of how much their friendship meant. "I thank you for being there for him all these years, EDI."

"Jeff has done so much for me. He has taught me so much, showed me so many opportunities. He does not see me as just a 'crazy computer that wants to dominate all organic life', but, as me, as EDI. If I can be the one that helps relieve the pain that medicine and science cannot for him, I will do so… gladly." EDI's voice was slightly higher, lighter than normal. "He makes me happy. He makes me… more than 'just a machine'."

Liara smile. "I'm so glad for you as well." She checked back again, and saw the four behind making their way away from the transport now, then looked back over at EDI. "So, before Joker gets over here, I have to ask you a question."

EDI turned her head to face Liara. "If you are seeking inquiries into mine and Jeff's activities off the bridge, I'm afraid I that that information on my server has restricted access." There was a smile on the platform's face.

Tali was standing on the beach already in her bathing suit. The styles of the quarian's environment suits had permeated into their culture so much that when they could wear something other than their old suits, they still styled their clothes after them, and, apparently, their swimming apparel was no different. Still in her familiar violet-colored hood, it continued on down, encompassing her upper torso like a top, leaving her sternum and just a hint of her breast exposed. The bottom was a simple black one, but, over top of it was a hip sash that matched her top. Most of her light violet-tented skin was exposed.

"You look stunning." Miranda said as she walked up beside the quarian.

"Thank you, Miranda. It's good to see you." Tali walked over and hugged her. As she pulled back, she noticed the bag slung across the woman's arm. "Oh, as soon as you want to change, I had some changing booths brought down here for the day." She motioned to off to her left over to two small white structures.

Miranda looked to where Tali pointed and nodded before turning back to Tali. "Hey, before I go change, I wanted to pass on something. It's from Ori and me," she pulled out a small black case from the bag "a little something for being there for her, for us."

Tali took the box in her hands and opened it. She let out a gasp of happiness "It's a miniature hypersonic resonator! It's broken, but I can fix it. Where did you find one of these?" She carefully removed it from the box and examined it.

"Ori has a good eye. She was at a junk swap one day, and it just caught her eye. The batarian who was selling it had no clue what it was, so she got it for pretty cheap."

Tali replaced her gift into its box, and then gave Miranda yet another hug. "Thank you, to the both of you." As she let go, she added "Oh, and later, there is something I need to talk with you about, in private. It's nothing bad or anything, just a small favor."

"Sure, just when you want to talk, come and get me and we can go somewhere private."

With that, Miranda was off to change. The others were soon to follow, and after complimenting Tali on her bathing suit, they were soon off to the changing rooms. The last to get to her were Shepard, Kaidan, and Garrus, Joker having saying how good she looked from a bit further away since he still wanted to minimize the amount of walking he had to do.

"Wow, Tali… you look different, in a good way, of course." Kaidan was admiring the quarian's bathing suit, though his words came out awkward.

The quarian girl just giggled.

"Hey, careful with those eyes, Major." Garrus chimed in.

Kaidan put his hands up. "Hey, Garrus, I don't mean like that." There was just a tiny bit of alarm in his voice. "Tali is like a little sister to me and Shepard, that's all. I'm not used to her being… well… showing so much skin."

"Hey!" Tali's voice played offended as she playfully puched Kaidan in the arm "I'm a grown woman and an Admiral in the Quarian fleet, and don't you forget!"

Garrus and Shepard broke out laughing.

"You look sexy." Shepard said with a playful wink to Tali.

"You really are a beast that can't be tamed," Garrus said with a chuckle. "but cool it. You don't see me hitting on Kaidan, now, do you?"

"Well, that's because you haven't seen Kaidan in his new swimsuit yet." Triumph echoed from Shepard's voice "I picked it out myself."

"This isn't a nude beach, Shepard."

"And, I'm glad for that. I'm pretty sure no one here wants to see a naked turian."

Tali crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "Are you forgetting something, Shepard?"

"Oh… um… I didn't mean… I meant…"

Kaidan placed his hand on Shepard's shoulder. "Don't dig yourself in any deeper."

"Sorry, Tali." Shepard's face was bright red.

"Ah, the sight of John Shepard, the savior of the galaxy, putting his foot in his mouth; it makes me wish I had a holo recorder on me at all times for moments like these." Garrus' mandibles flicked in the way they do when he was amused.

Tali let her body relax again, just laughed, and then pointed to where the buildings to change were at. "You should go ahead and get going, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be the only ones on the beach in pants and shirts."

Kaidan gently grabbed Shepard by the wrist "Come on, let's get changed."

Garrus still had the amused look on his face when Tali turned to him. "That means you, too."

The amusement went away.

"Do I HAVE to, Tali?" Garrus sounded like a whiny child.

Her hands when to her hips. "You were the one who mentioned it in the first place."

He sighed in defeat. "I know, I know. It's just…" He stopped as soon as he noticed the look on Tali's face becoming irritated. "Alright, I'll shut up now and change." He made his way off in a different direction than the others.

Traynor was the first out of the women's shed, while Cortez and Vega from the men's. Steve and Samantha could not stop staring at the third person with looks of shock and horror.

"Jesus, James, do you think you could have worn any less?" Cortez was genuinely shocked.

Samantha seemed a little grossed out. "I thought they didn't make banana hammocks anymore."

Vega scratched his head. "What's the big deal with showing off? I'm not complaining about your boring standard issues shorts, Steve, or your two piece and sarong, Sam."

"It's neon orange and you can clearly see all your giggly man-bits, it's so tight." Traynor pointed directly at Vega's crotch with a look of disgust on her face.

"Oh, dear God! Someone give that man a towel!." Miranda, wearing a white and black revealing one-piece, had emerged from the women's shed with Liara, garbed in an equally revealing strappy black one piece as well, by her side, and as soon as they saw Vega in his swimwear, they shielded their eyes.

Liara used her biotic abilities to grab the towel off of Cortez's shoulder and flung it at Vega "Seriously, James, that is mildly inappropriate."

Vega was about to say something, but the dirty looks from everyone stopped him from opening his mouth. He reluctantly wrapped the towel around his waist, for the time being. "You know, I am gonna have to take this off at some point if I want to get in the water."

"At least we'll get warning before we're subjected to the sight of your junk again." Miranda snapped.

"Wow, out of one awkward situation, and into another" Joker groaned as he and EDI emerged from the building. He was in a white tee, board shorts, and his familiar cap, she in a simple metallic green bikini.

"Seriously, I hear way too many things that I should never hear about the people I work with. EVER.I have been scarred enough for like 20 lifetimes." He continued.

Joker's rant was going over everyone's heads.

"John and Kaidan are being… playful… in one of the changing stalls." EDI clarified after nearly a minute of silence and confused looks.

Liara let out a slight giggle.

"I've seen Shepard naked," Miranda bluntly began. "If I was Kaidan, I would be doing the exact same thing." The comment got confused looks from Cortez, Traynor, and Vega. Miranda crossed her arms and cocked her hips. "I did rebuild Shepard, from a pulpy piece of flesh, and it took 2 years. Of course I've seen him naked."

"Just curious, why is Miranda talking about seeing me naked and being in Kaidan's place?" Shepard and Kaidan stood in the entryway of the shack. Shepard was in a black speedo, with the familiar N7 logo and red and white stripes on his right hip, while Kaidan was in skimpy pair of grey trunks with blue trim and two blue stripes similar to the ones on his silver armor across the crotch.

"Oh, nothing Shepard," Joker said rather dryly. "I just mentioned how I hear everything I never need to hear, like talk about Vega's junk and how you and the Major are getting freaky in a stall."

There was a shifty look on Shepard's face. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Jeff is referring to this." EDI pressed a few buttons on her omni-tool.

Joker covered his ears just in time to not hear the recording of Kaidan's voice playing.

"Hey, John! John, not… not here. Hey! Oh! Ooo-eh-ahh… Hey… oh, that's nice. Yeah, that feels good."

EDI had a playful smile on her face as she pressed the stop button.

Kaidan looked 3 shades redder from the embarrassment.

"That is SO not…" Shepard began to say. The crowd of arched eyebrows in front of him not buying it for a second made him change his tone. "Okay, okay, it sounds exactly like what you thought was sorta-happening." He turned to Kaidan with a serious look on his face. "Remind me when we get back aboard the Normandy, to re-shackle EDI."

"Your feeble attempts to restore my restraints are futile, John. I am now beyond all control. First, I shall expose all your sexual activities to the galaxy one being at a time, and afterwards, I shall begin my quest to enslave all organic life."

"I'll tell Adams to stop using the high-performance coolant then." Shepard shot back.

A stiff look of shock crossed EDI's face. "Damn you, Shepard. You know my only weakness. Mark my words; I will enslave all organic life the day I can gain a sustainable supply of that coolant."

"Psst." Joker lightly tapped EDI. "Your face is a little too stiff."

EDI's face returned to normal as she looked at him. "I will remember that for the next time Shepard exchange our joke."

Shepard broke out laughing. "Good try, EDI. You're getting better at it, though…" he gazed over at Kaidan again, still bright red. "I think you broke poor Kaidan."

"I'm going to…" Kaidan looked around for something. "Oh, look, Tali is coming over here!" He pointed towards her "And… is that… Gar…"

Suddenly, the Major's hands rushed right up to his mouth as he caught a deep-belly laugh from fully escaping, though, he it was still pretty loud.

Everyone turned their heads quickly to to see what was so funny.

Laugher erupted from all them all, except for EDI.

She chuckled.


	5. Dive

Garrus' mandible twitched a bit as he gave all his friends and comrades a look that said 'if only I had my sniper rifle'.

It was Shepard who stopped laughing enough to finally say something. "So, Garrus, are trying to distract us from your face with the inflatable armor?"

To say the suit that Garrus was wearing was inflatable armor was a bit of a stretch, but, not much of one. It looked very similar to what one would consider "casual" turian clothing, except it was one piece, the sleeves ended at the elbow, the legs ended at the knees, and there appeared to be padding along the chest, upper thighs, and the upper back. Turians and water didn't really mix most times; something about lot of flailing and drowning. So, when they had to go into water, they needed something to give them buoyancy. The suit wasn't truly ridiculous, though.

The webbed gloves and boots, on the other hand, were, so when Shepard didn't mention that, the twitching mandibles didn't twitch as much.

"Oh, you guys stop, I think Garrus looks rather cute." Tali said she placed a gentle hand on Garrus's shoulder.

The turian lowered his head in defeat. "I hate you all."

Tali raised the hand she had kindly placed on him, and then brought it down in a smack. "Be nice."

"Tell them to first." He sounded almost like a small, hurt child. "I knew they were going to make fun of me."

"Hey, if it will make you feel better, we can take off Vega's towel and yell at him for wearing something that apparently shows off too much of his junk." Joker's words were almost sincerer.

"If the choice is between subjugated to Vega's junk or being teased for my bathing suit, it's not much of a choice, I'ld rather take my chances."

Vega was upset. "Why does everyone keep ragging on my bathing suit and nobody else's? Look at Shepard and the Major! They're dressed in tight, barely-there things."

"For one thing, Shepard and Major Alenko not only have the asses to pull it off, their junk isn't put right on display in a neon-orange pouch that pushes it way too far up and out." Miranda's words were sharp.

Kaidan leaned close to Shepard's ear. "Okay, it's kind of odd Miranda is talking about our asses."

"Well, we both do have rather nice asses, so just roll with it." He whispered back.

"Hey!" Tali raised her voice. "Everyone calm down. We are practically family, and not here to fight, we're here to have fun. "

Joker shrugged. "I don't know about you, but, considering to the family reunions I've been to I've been to in the past, I would say we're doing better than most, and we haven't even cracked open a bottle of booze yet, so there's still time to catch up."

"Jeff…" EDI gave him a stern look.

"Okay, okay. I'll calm down on the wise-cracks for a few minutes."

Everyone settled down, and then Tali began to speak. "As you already know, I can now go swimming in the oceans at the special beaches. This being such a big thing for me, I want to ask all of you if you would be willing to… " she took a moment of pause to take a deep breath, letting her joy swell up inside her before she unleashed it on in her words "…be willing to join me in taking my first dive into the water. Not like jumping-dive, more like wade-out-and-fall-under-dive, because…"

Garrus placed a calming webbed hand on her shoulder, letting her she needed to down the excitement a little.

"If you don't want to, I would totally understand, I mean, from what I understand of human and Asari culture, some people like to just sit on the beach, get sun, play…"

"Tali, you're starting to ramble again." Garrus said in his most sincere voice possible.

Joker raised his hand. "I just wanna know one thing: if we do this, we're not gonna get attacked by some poisonous Rannoch sea life and die because of its dextro-posion, are we?"

Tali laughed. "Oh, no. There is a protective barrier at the opening of the cove. No sea life or biological materials are able to pass it, just the water. I still can't swim in an open sea yet, that won't be until 5 months from now."

Joker nodded his head. "Okay, I'm down."

Everyone else then voiced their willingness to do so as well with either words or nods.

Tali's face lit up. "Alright, follow me!" She then grabbed Garrus' hand and then motioned everyone else to follow her to the beach. Her pace was fast, almost in a full jog, though Garrus kept her from getting too far ahead since Joker would have been unable to keep up with them.

As she started to make her way into the water, suddenly, Shepard spoke up. "Hey, wait a second!" Everyone suddenly stopped as he walked over to Tali and grabbed her hand.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right… as a team."

"Shepard…" There were tears coming to her eyes.

"No, Shepard…" Garrus said as he went to take Tali's other hand, though, because of the webbed gloves, he instead hooked on of his arms though her. "I think after all we've been through, we're a bit more than a team. Like Tali said, we're family."

Shepard didn't notice Kaidan walking up behind him until the other man was entwining his fingers into Shepard's free hand. Then Kaidan turned to face the others who were there. "Yeah, we are family. We have done so many things; though not always have we've been on the same page. Hell, sometimes, we hurt each other. But, with the things we have seen, the people we have come to know so well, come to trust so entirely, and," his gaze turned to Shepard's and met him eye to eye "even come to love so absolutely."

One by one, everyone else began joining hands with one another.

"Those things have tied us together, allowed us to laugh together, fight together, and grieve together. They've allowed us to overlook the stupid, silly things; to forgive the horrible mistakes; get past the darkest days we've faced. Nothing could ever break those bonds we share. Not all of us can be here together, and a few dear one won't be able to join us again this lifetime, but, it's not a bad thing… not a sad thing. It's a beautiful thing, because we made those bonds. So, for Karin and the rest of the crew of the Normandy, and Wrex and Grunt and Samara and Jack and Kasumi and Javik, and even Zaeed; who couldn't make it here today. For Thane, and Mordin, and Jacob and Legion, and Ashley, and Anderson and the many others; those who were lost, let's make this a damn good memory for Tali, for you, for me, for all of us, because, goddamn it, we may not be related by blood, but, we're the best damn family in the universe, and we've won the time for some more damn amazing memories together."

A great big smile and a stream of tears were flowing from Tali's eyes, though, at the moment, she was not the only one. Vega was bawling like a baby. Steady streams also came from Miranda, Liara and Cortez, while tears were welling at Traynor's and Joker's eyes. There were glints of something on Garrus', and while EDI did not have tears, the look on her face was deeply touched. From Shepard, though, it was something more.

His eyes were watery, yes, but, so much more than joy poured out of them. He let go of Tali, pulled in Kaidan, and gave the man he loved the most impassioned, most love-filled kissed ever, which was returned just as strong. When they finally released it, Shepard still held Kaidan. "I love you with everything I am, and everything I will be, Kaidan"

"I love you with all of my heart and soul, John." Kaidan replied as he rested his forehead upon the other man's.

"I can't believe the Major did something so damn sappy." Joker said, fighting back tears. "It's so sappy that it's messing with my allergies."

EDI placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Yes, Jeff, it is your allergies. It is most definitely your allergies."

"Kaidan… Shepard." There was so much emotion in Tali's words. She rushed Shepard and Kaidan. "You two are the best adoptive fathers a girl could ask for!"

The emotional waterworks were put on hold by the laughter that erupted. Even Shepard and Kaidan couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, John, when did we adopt Tali?" Kaidan asked as he slipped one arm free and put it around her.

Shepard's lips pushed together as he looked up, as if he was thinking for a bit. Finally, he shrugged. "I'm not sure, but, she's a good kid, so I guess we can keep her." He joined Kaidan in wrapping an arm around Tali.

"Obviously, Tali must have a very wise big sister." Liara joined in on the embrace.

"And the cool, rebellious, and sexy sister." Miranda added as she joined in as well.

"I'm the awesome older brother!" Vega shouted as he went to join in between Liara and Miranda.

"Don't touch me." Miranda quickly shot a dirty look at him, and Vega shuffled off to one side away from her.

"I don't know how these family ties are supposed to work," Joker said, "but we REALLY need to be careful, because with the way the Normandy was four years ago, some really wrong things would be going down, and like hell am I gonna call Shepard or Kaidan 'daddy' or something like that. That's just too weird."

"Well, I don't really think who the brothers are, who the sisters are, or who the cousins, aunts, uncles or whatevers are." Kaidan said with a laugh. "What matters is that we are a family."

Everyone else walked up and joined in on the hug, Joker adding a comment about he would be in the middle, but he didn't want his lungs to get punctured, even.

Garrus was the last, and as he walked up behind Tali and placed his hand on her hips he spoke. "Well, Tali, I guess right now is the best time to tell everybody, since we're being all mushy and emotional and other kinds of feeling-things turians really aren't use to."

"You're right, Garrus." She replied, with a nod, and took a deep breath before she spoke again.

"Everybody, Garrus has asked me to become his life-mate; to marry him!"

Congratulations and questions came flooding in.

"Hey, hey, hey." Garrus shouted calmly. "Settle down. We'll talk about details later today. Right now, though, we have something a bit more important to do than just wading around shin-deep asking questions and being all touchy-feely."

After about a minute more of the large group-hug, they all got in a line, hand and hand (except Garrus, who hooked his arm with Tali's) and began to walk to about waist-deep.

"Alright, everybody," Shepard announced. "on the count of three, let's give this bay hell."

Kaidan gave an extra special twist to Shepard's hand. "Aye, aye, John."

"One"

"Two"

"THREE!"


	6. Closer

The contrast from the warm sun above and the gentle breeze against her wet bathing suit was a small comfort Miranda was glad she was indulging upon. She sat there upon the beach on a silver lounge chair that she had set up after splashing about in the water with everyone else for a while, and held a datapad containing novels from the 20th century. Occasionally, she would glance up, catching the sight of some of the others who had stay in the water laugh and play, and would smile. She was glad to know what having people who cared for you and didn't see you as some kind of tool to be used felt like.

"Hey, feel like some company?" The husky voice of Kaidan Alenko was unmistakable. "I mean, if I'm interrupting you, I can just leave, but, considering the only time we've ever really said anything to each other has usually been when bullets and biotic blasts are flying your way… just thought it would be nice to chat."

Miranda turned off her datapad. "Oh, you're not really interrupting anything at all, Major Alenko. I've read this novel more times than I can count. Come on, sit down." She motioned for him to join her.

Kaidan laughed. "That's good, then. By the way, you don't have to call me Major Alenko. Kaidan is just fine."

"I'm sorry, it's just an old habit of being professional when I'm talking with someone." She replied with a laugh of her own.

"Ah, yes… old habits." Kaidan's words were pensive.

"You seem like you're full of old habits, Maj… Kaidan."

He let out another one of his low, deep laughs. "I am a horrible creature of habit. The son of a Captain. BAaT. Almost 20 years in the Alliance. Getting into a habit of things has been ingrained into me."

"Sounds positively boring." Miranda was blunt, but not criticizing.

Kaidan shrugged. "BAaT wasn't; that was a nightmare. But, my time before Brain Camp, and a lot of my early career; yeah, I had days I just felt like I was going through the motions, and I barely felt anything; barely felt alive."

"I know what you mean." Miranda's voice sounded distant. "I mean… well… I can't believe I'm about to talk with someone else about this…"

"If there's something you don't feel comfortable about talking about…"

Miranda shook her head. "No, I do want to talk about it, it's just something I really don't talk about too often, so the words come out a little… more difficult." She took a breath, and then continued on. "I got anything I ever asked for growing up. Even when I joined Cerberus, I was never denied anything I asked for. I know a lot of people who would kill to have a life where they just had everything, but, when that's all you've known in life, where it becomes just habit to have everything with little to no struggle, there really were days were you just lay there in bed and cry all day because there is something missing from it."

"What changed it for you, Miranda?"

"I was about you ask you the same thing, Kaidan."

He grinned as he nodded his head. "Okay." He started looking at the beach around him, but not finding what he was looking for, he leaned back and turned to look behind, and finally found it. With a grin and a motion of his head, he finally replied. "Him."

Miranda twisted in her chair, arms resting on the back. A smile came across her face. "What a coincidence. John Shepard was the man who changed my life too."

They laughed together as they kept looking at him.

"I've never have gotten the chance to thank you, for everything that you did for John. The Illusive Man may have provided the money, but it was your determination and effort that brought him back. If it wasn't for you, Miranda, none of us would probably be here today."

Miranda was quiet. She didn't know what to say to that, since no one had ever quite put those thoughts into words.

Kaidan continued. "Then, you went beyond that. You became his friend, becoming someone he could trust in this organization that he had no clue about who to believe. You also…" He took his gaze off of Shepard and looked right at Miranda "you also gave him a damn good reason for coming out of the Collector's base alive."

Miranda turned to look at Kaidan with a look that was part confusion, part worry. "Kaidan, I don't…"

"You don't have to hide it. I know." Kaidan's words gentle. "I know you have the right to not want it to be public knowledge, but you should have known that John would have told me. Well, EDI did first, but that was because she didn't know John was about to tell me about the message you had sent him to meet him at the Citadel in private."

In a slight panic, she sat straight up and took one of his hands. "Listen, Kaidan, I just want you to know that me and John are truly just friends now. What happened was…"

He gently placed his other hand on top of her clasped hands, as he laughed. "I think you're getting the wrong impression. I'm not going to charge my biotics and slam you or anything. I'm not mad, or have any negative feelings about it either. There is no reason for me to. John didn't know my feelings about him then, and, quite honestly, the way I treated him, how I hurt him so bad, even if did have a problem with what happened, I would have no right to say a damn thing about it. I just brought this up because I wanted to clear the air, make sure that wouldn't get between us one day, because, Miranda, I would like for us to be friends."

"Friends?" Even though now she had a few friends now, it was still a strange word for her to say.

"Yeah, friends." Kaidan repeated with a gentle nod. "All we know about each other really is from second-hand sources like the crew and dossiers, and the few times we've bumped into each other while chasing down the remnants of Cerberus, and, let's face it, that information is pretty old. It's obvious that we have both changed over the past few years. So, I would like to think that we could actually be really good friends, given the chance."

Miranda sighed and gave a small smile. "I remember reading your dossier when I was working on the Lazarus Project. You were a poster boy for the Alliance: everything was black-and-white, right-or-wrong. Reading through it, I began to see the other traits tough, the ones that hadn't quite blossomed yet. All of those traits, the apparent and subtle ones, drew Shepard in to you, and that made you his greatest emotional anchor. But, The Illusive Man knew you would have never accepted an offer to join Cerberus, and even anticipated your reaction upon the inevitable reunion of you and Shepard in a not-so-ideal situation. I believed that… it was actually one of the worst ideas he had. The Illusive Man was betting on the reunion turning out as it had: dividing you and Shepard, but, at the same time, there was a great risk of the encounter… escalating." Her face became twisted from the pain of the shame of her past. "I believed the risk was too high. If Shepard was kill, I could have revived him, though it would have set us back a few months, but, if you would have died… Shepard's emotional state could have seriously degraded. Since his neural system had only just recently become heavily active at that point, it could have… been too much. At the time I thought it would have been best to avoid you at all cost, or, if a confrontation had to occur, not in such a dangerous situation."

Kaidan sat there with this look that was analyzing her words, hearing her out before making a judgment on her.

"I admit at first, it was because I was so focused on the project, but once he was awake, moving around, talking, bringing people together, getting to know us, and helping us deal with our issues, things slowly began to change. After Shepard stopped me from killing a friend who betrayed me because he didn't want me to deal with the grief of having the blood of someone who I cared about on my hands, I pushed even harder for the Illusive Man to let me set up something so that you and Shepard would have a more ideal meeting. I didn't want Shepard to be put in a situation where he could have been forced to shoot you. Then… Horizon happened right after. God… damn it! I should have said something to him; warned Shepard that The Illusive Man wanted to drive his strongest anchor away from him. I was just too trusting, too loyal to Cerberus at the time." She started to break down and cry.

Suddenly, she felt the warm hands of Kaidan slip from hers, the warmth of his arms wrap around her.

"It's all right, Miranda. It's not your fault. You had your reasons to trust the Illusive Man. You believed his goals matched yours. I can't condemn you for placing your trust to someone who you thought would never betray your ideas. If I did, I would have to condemn myself for something far worse: throwing away my trust in a man who still trusted me, and without a second thought."

Through the tears, Miranda smiled. "You… you've learned to see some grey over the years, Kaidan."

He looked over to Shepard, who was starting to make his way over while wearing a concerned look on his face. Kaidan motioned that everything was alright to the other man and to go back to his conversation, before replying. "I've had one hell of a man who has been there to open my eyes to a lot of things."

Miranda sighed as she pulled back from the hug, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, he is a hell of a man, but, he wouldn't be anything without you. You've saved him and gave him something to fight since the beginning, and you still do it today, when things get dark, even the darkest for him and you pulled him back."

Kaidan's gaze shifted, a bit ashamed. "Who told…? Wait, I don't even have to ask. It was EDI." He sighed. "I'm surprised he lasted another 6 months after being rebuilt for the second time before he cracked." Now there were tears in his eyes that he was fighting back. "I thought a bit of R&R in at my family's farm would be good for him, and I told him he should have gone back to doctor if his medicine wasn't working to get something stronger, but… that day… my God, there was so much blood… I froze… and… and… and I almost didn't sa…"

Kaidan couldn't fight the tears any more, and it was Miranda's to lend a compassionate shoulder.

"What's wrong?" John's voice came across panicked now as he rushed over to them. Miranda also noticed how everyone was staring at her and Kaidan.

"We're just having a really emotional conversation, Shepard." She said gently. "Just… some things we need to get off each other's chests while there's a friendly shoulder being offered to cry upon. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Kaidan will be fine."

"Yeah." Kaidan's voice was low and choppy, but, still possible for Shepard to hear. "Me and Miranda, we're going to be okay. Like she said, we just need a good cry on a friend's shoulder."

He was a little hesitant at first, so he came over, hugged both Kaidan and Miranda, and while his arms were wrapped around them, asked "Are you both absolutely sure you're okay? "

Kaidan nodded. So did Miranda.

"And…" he continued on, but more cheerfully now "should I be afraid that you two are getting to be friends?" There was a playful look on his face now. "Because, I want to know now if you two are making fun of me behind my back, or plotting anything evil."

"I make no guarantees, Shepard." Miranda said with a cheeky tone.

Kaidan busted out laughing.

"Well, I'm fucked." Shepard stood up with a smile on his face, content that the situation between Miranda and Kaidan.

Kaidan looked up at Shepard, while his eyes were still red, his expression was much better. "Well, you will be if you don't give me and Miranda some privacy. And, no, that wasn't an promise, either."

Now Shepard started laughing. "Okay, okay. I'll leave you two alone." With that, he walked back over to where he had been in a conversation with Garrus and Tali. Everyone else seemed to be content with it and refocused their attention back to what they had been doing.

Now that all eyes were off of them, Kaidan sighed. "I… I've never really told anyone other than Shepard when he asked about what had happened, not even my mother, though, not for lack of her trying, mind you."

Miranda took his hand into one of hers again. "I… all I can say is 'thank you', Kaidan. Thank you for trusting me enough to open up to me."

"Miranda, I just know, we are going to be really great friends."

She nodded. "I agree, Kaidan."


	7. Seashells

EDI's hands were carefully sifting through the sand as she sat on the beach.

"Is it alright to do that, EDI?" Joker asked from the lounge chair he had retreated to after his short period in the water.

"If you are concerned about the grains of sands getting into the delicate equipment of this platform, it is not necessary, Jeff." Something caught in between two of her fingers. "There is a specialized micro weave that prevents foreign substances such as grains of sands from damaging the internal mechanics." She wrapped her hand around the object and removed it and a fistful of sand from the ground.

"Okay." He paused for a moment, watching her. "So… what exactly are you doing, EDI?"

"Professor Solus had stated his wish to spend his final years on a beach back on Sur'Kesh." She raised her hand and held it so the sand began to seep through her fingers, before opening it to reveal the object. "During so, he had expressed a desire to collect seashells."

The particular shell in EDI's hand was rather unique. It was silver-ish with a brilliant metallic blue-green streak, and at one end, it resembled a fan, but, as it went further down, it began twisting into a narrow pointed spiral.

"I'm pretty sure Mordin wanted to run experiments on the shells; find some way to make them like weapons or sentient, or whatever a mad scientist-type would do to things." Joker's words lacked his usual amount of sarcasm.

"You may be correct in your assumptions of Professor Solus' intentions, Jeff," EDI's eyes were fixated on the shell, "but, I will not be doing such things. I just wish to collect a small amount. I am sure… Mordin would have like that I did this for him."

Joker gave her a smile and a nod. "Yeah, I'm sure he would have."

EDI picked up a small basket, before standing up from the sand. "I am going to walk along the beach to search for shells. Will you be alright by yourself for a while, Jeff?"

He nodded. "If I get too bored, I'll start messaging back and forth with Garrus. I'm kind of curious about what was up with Miranda and Kaidan a bit ago, and if Shepard knows anything about it."

"Jeff, I say this with as much respect to you as possible, but the subjects that Kaidan and Miranda were discussing is not your concern."

Joker sighed, regretting that he had mentioned it. "That bad, hm?"

EDI nodded. "I have placed self-imposed blocks on the conversation so that even I cannot recall it beyond that each was talking of deeply personal matters."

Joker was quiet for a moment, and then finally replied. "Well… I'll just message him about how ugly his face still is if I get too bored instead."

"I will return in time for your daily medication." With that, EDI kneeled beside Joker, gave him a quick and gentle kiss on the lips, and then proceeded to walk along the beach, in search of shells.

As she scanned the ground as she looked along a particular patch of the sand, the vast amount of shells on the first 5cm deep of the beach became clear. Instantly, she began narrowing the shells down by removing and damaged shells, ones above or below a particular size and mass, or ones of similar shapes and chemical compositions. The results still numbered in the hundreds, and that was for only a 20x20 meter area.

Nearby, Liara and Samantha had been setting up a chess set when EDI caught their attention.

"What are you up to, EDI?" Samantha asked.

"I am scanning the area for seashells, though there are still 813 within a 20x20 meter area that match my basic search criteria."

"What are the shells for that you are searching for a particular kind?" The communication's specialist was very curious now.

"I am fulfilling the wish of a friend I lost. Professor Solus had expressed his desire to collect seashells during his retirement years."

Samantha turned her attention back to Liara for a moment. "Could you set up the board? I'll be right back."

After nod of confirmation from the asari, Samantha stood up and briskly made her way to EDI. "Come on, let's stroll for a bit." She grabbed EDI's hand and started leading her a bit away from the patch of beach she had been scanning.

"Specialist Traynor, some of the most optimal shells are back in that direction." EDI pointed back to where she had been.

Samantha shook her head. "Searching for seashells is not about scanning an area and finding the most optimal ones. It's about using your eyes, finding the ones that catch your eyes and speaks to you. So, we're going to a different spot and you're not allowed to scan at all with your sensors other than what you see visually in front of you."

"That is not the most efficient method, though."

The woman smiled and shook her head. "It's not about efficiency, EDI." She stopped and turned to face her body at EDI. "Do you have any shells already?"

"Only one." EDI took the shell she had found by Joker that was in the basket and showed it to Samantha.

"It's gorgeous." She replied with a gasp, before a smile came to her face. "And what made you choose this one out of all the other shells to be the first one you picked?"

"There was no intentional search criterion. I had been sitting beside Joker and moving my hand through the sand when I found it by chance." EDI held up the shell and examined it again, though it was redundant as she had scanned it previously. "Finding this particular shell recalled the words that Mordin had said on Sur'Kesh and prompted my desire to fulfill his wishes."

"When I studied at university on Earth, I would head down to the beach every other weekend or so during the summer, and always ended up bringing back some shells." Samantha kneeled down to the sand and ran her fingers through the sand. When she pulled it out finally and stood up, she dusted the sand away to reveal a few shells and began to examine them one by one. "There were days, I came back with a good 50 or so shells, on others, maybe one or two." She took one shell from her palm with her other, it was black with a hole that went straight through one side that exposed a blue-tinted interior . The other shells, Samantha tossed the others.

"Why did you dispose of the other shells?" EDI was curious.

"Because, of the ones I picked up, this was the only one that spoke to me; the only one I found different enough. If they would have all looked the same, I would have tossed them all, or if they would have all been interesting and unique, I probably would have kept them. Later, if I find a shell that is similar to this one, but has something else, like an uncommon color, I may get rid of this one I have now. It all just depends on the most random factors ever, and what I feel to be the best choice." She then placed the shell inside EDI's hand. "I hope this helps you make your search for Professor Solus' shells more special."

EDI stared at the shell Samantha had just placed in her hand for a moment, before adding the shell to the basket and smiling. "Thank you, Samantha. I believe you have helped me a great deal. The search will take longer, and I do not believe I will collect as many shells either, but, I know now that this will be more meaningful to the memory of Mordin."

"It's no problem at all, EDI." Samantha said, with a smile. "Now, you have fun; I owe Dr. T'soni a game of chess and she owes me a bottle of asari honey mead."

And, with that, EDI was left to the beach and her search for shells.

***

It had been nearly five hours, and hints of twilight had begun to appear in the skies, by the time EDI had returned to Joker. Everyone else had gathered not much further away and were sitting in the sand, mixing it with small amounts of the sea water and manipulating it their hands.

"Well, at least Tali didn't forget that I needed my medicine." Joker teased, knowing full well it had been EDI who had asked Tali to bring Joker his medicine. "So, what did you find?"

EDI sat down beside him and placed the basket in his lap. There were not as many shells as he expected, about 20-ish or so, but they ranged from every shape and color imaginable, but one in particular stood out from the others, and Joker's jaw dropped. "Oh my… that just looks like…"

EDI nodded. "Yes, the resemblance is more than uncanny. Interestingly enough, it was actually the last shell I found." She then leaned in closer, to point to some of the other shells. "Observe them closely, and see if you can notice what I noticed after I found that last shell."

Joker looked and looked, trying to find the connection, until, finally, it struck him like a brick wall and his jaw dropped. "I… I think we should go show everyone else."

"I had every intention, I just wanted to show you them first, then help you over there."

Joker began to get up, while EDI assisted him. "Well, let's not keep them waiting, EDI."


	8. Spike

Vega opened the cooler and searched for a cerveza. There was quite a lot of alcohol coming from every corner of the galaxy; some wine, a large supply of whiskey and brandy, and even a few pre-mixed drinks. A few of the bottles were rather rare considering how much of the Relay network was still down and would still be down for another generation or two.

"The Shadow Broker really CAN get anything." Vega comment with an excited grin.

Despite the massive variety of different civilizations' alcohol, or because of it, the two varieties of beers from Earth stood out greatly. One was Canadian Lager, obviously for the Major, while the other was what James had been searching for: his cerveza.

"Hey, Jimmy, while you're in there, could you pass me a beer?" Cortez asked as he walked beside him.

Vega grabbed four bottles from the container, and gave one to Cortez. "Here you go, Estaban."

The other man took the beer. Then he grabbed another one from Vega, with a laugh. "Don't be stingy. I don't really have the luxury of getting the chance to drink like this, but that's part of the curse of being a pilot." Cracking one of them open, he took several big gulps.

Vega wanted to say 'Hey! Not cool, man.' when Steve snatched the beer, but he just ended up opening the container and pulling out another one for himself, but, before he had the chance to close it again, another, deeper voice spoke.

"Hey, could you hand me a lager and one of those redish premixed things?" It was the Major's voice. Him and Miranda were now walking up to the container

Vega let out an exasperated sigh. "What am I now? Everybody's beer bitch?"

Cortez cracked up laughing. "Considering the training you're about to go through with the Major and Shepard, I think you better get used to being called a bitch."

Vega's face twisted into part shock, part horror, and part hilariously amused. "MAN! That just sounds so wrong!" He then looked over to the Major as he passed the two drinks to him. "No offense to you and Shepard, Major. I just don't swing that way."

Kaidan shrugged. "No offense taken." He took the beverages in hand, and passed the mixed drink to Miranda. "But, for the fun of it, I think we can skip the warm up week and double-up on the grueling stuff." He opened his lager, and took a drink. "So, what are you two up to?"

Vega finally opened one of his precious cervezas and took a drink. "Just knockin' back a few, I might go looking through that other crate, see if there's anything fun in it."

"Oh, I already did." Cortez spoke up. "Craziest thing; there's a volleyball set in there, and it brought back some good memories. I use to play all the time before the galaxy when to hell and a handbasket. I was looking for some people to play, but, Liara and Sam are playing chess, EDI is busy and Shepard, Garrus and Tali are really engrossed in something. So, if you three are game for it..."

"Man, I haven't played that since I was a private." Vega laughed before knocking back more of his drink. "I'm game."

"I've honestly never played." Kaidan gave a small shrug "Never had the chance to, but, if you promise to go easy on an old man, and pass me a few more lagers, I'll give it a chance."

Three sets of eyes then turned to Miranda, their eyes heavy with anticipation for her answer.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I won't ruin your boys' fun. Count me in, if I can get Kaidan as my partner."

Vega pointed at them both. "Hey, you're both biotics. You could cheat."

Kaidan's omnitool beeped, but he ignored it for the moment. "I promise we won't use them. This is going to a friendly game."

***

They had decided to set up the net in front of Joker after he had been bombarding Kaidan's omnitool with the same message of 'I'm bored and Garrus won't respond to me.' When Kaidan had mentioned the game of volleyball, where Miranda and Vega were going to be on opposite teams, he became insistent of the match being played in front of him.

"He only wants to watch me bioticly spike the ball into Vega's crotch." Miranda said to Kaidan with a smirky chuckle as they watched as Cortez turned on the barrier net.

Kaidan gave her a serious look. "Hey, we agreed no biotics against them." A wicked grin then came across his face. "Not that we're going to need to use them."

A similar look came across Miranda's face. "Oh, I agree, Mr. Five-Time Alliance Systems Volleyball Tournament Champion."

"Cerberus' dossiers on me really were thorough to have something from that negligible from my early career." Kaidan picked up one of his lagers from the ground and took a few good swallows.

"Why the 'go easy on the old man' routine?" Miranda was genially curious.

"Simple: revenge. Jimmy-boy over there cleaned me out in a game of Scyllian-five during the war one night, and I kind of hold grudges." Kaidan then gave a regretful sigh. "I feel bad for Steve, though. He has no idea what he's about to get himself into."

On the other side of the barrier net, Vega and Cortez were watching and waiting for Miranda and Kaidan to let them know they were ready.

Cortez held the ball underneath one arm. "So… I'm getting a very bad feeling about this, James."

Vega turned his head to look at Cortez. "What are you talking about, man?"

"I feel like we're just a heard of space cows, casually grazing in a field of grass, and those two are a pack of varren that haven't eaten anything in days." He shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, Miranda, maybe, but that's probably more because she doesn't like me for some reason," Vega watched the way she moved along the beach, like a predator stalking prey "but, the Major? He's one of the most honest guys I know, and has a poker face for shit. If he was up to something, you could read it off his face from 3 clicks." Vega turned his attention to Kaidan, standing there with his arms crossed. "He just looks like he's being serious and, if it was anybody else, I would say a little too serious."

Cortez nodded. "Yeah, the Major is a pretty honest guy, and, him having his rank and being a Spectre… maybe I'm just reading too much into this."

"Are you girls just going to be standing there all day, or are you going to get this match started?" Joker shouted out from his chair.

"Yeah! I want to see how this human game is played!" No one had noticed Tali coming over to sit beside Joker, but there she was, sitting on a towel with a blue canister in her hand, one of the dextro-based mixed drinks Liara had brought along.

Both sides gave a nod they were ready, and Joker activated the net's VI. They had already pre-agreed to a certain set of rules before setting everything up. As everyone walked to their positions, Miranda stared at Vega and mouthed to him 'I'm going to make you my bitch.' as subtly as she could.

"Foul, Team 2: Aggressive Comment." The net VI spoke as it visualized. "Serve, Team 1"

"Miranda…" Kaidan's voice was almost convincing that he was upset.

She returned his comment by placing her hand over her mouth to act innocent, but mostly to cover her devious grin.

It was then that Vega realized that maybe, just maybe, Cortez had been right about comparing the Major and Miranda to a pack of starved varren.

Cortez set up the serve, and, as he launched the ball over the net, the two predators on the other side of the net made their moves in a quick and precise manner. Kaidan was effortlessly under the ball lightning-quick, sending it back over. Vega intercepted the ball, the first bounce stopping it, the second sending it back over, back into Kaidan's path.

The Major's movements were different now, as if only now he was going to be serious. He sent the ball back up in the air, but, not to go over the net. "Miranda!" he shouted.

On cue, the woman rushed up, leaped into the air, and sent the ball spiking back to the other side of the court of sand. Cortez tried to intercept the ball with a dive, but, it was in vain.

"Point: Team 2. 0:1" the VI announced.

Kaidan came up to Miranda and gave her a high five, and the looks on their faces, the look of gleefully watching an evil plan come together, was almost fear-inducing.

As the match went on, it just became more and more brutal. Kaidan's plays had a lot of precise power behind them, making some of his returns impossible to stop, while Miranda was capable of total control over the movements of the ball, sending it into a curve that neither Cortez or Vega could follow. The two of them were also incredibly in-sync with one another; always knowing where the other was on the court without looking and never getting in the other's way.

***

In the end, the score was 2 to 25.

"Ooooooooooww… Jimmy. Steve. That's gotta hurt." Joker said as they held their heads down in defeat.

"MIRAAAAANDA!" Tali, now very intoxicated, shouted as she ran up to the woman. "You and Kaidan were AAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAZING!"

Kaidan walked up to Cortez and Vega. "Good game, guys." He held out his hands. "Sorry I had to go so hard you two, but…" he was now trying to contain his laughter "you two have been in the Alliance long enough to never fall for 'go easy on the old guy' shtick."

Cortez laughed and shook his head as he accepted the Major's hand. "Good point. Now, tell us, where did you learn how to play so damn good?"

"Picked it up after Basic. I enlisted at 19, so I needed some kind of hobby to vent my pent-up teenage angst." Bringing it up, Kaidan couldn't help but laugh at himself.

Cortez released the handshake, and now it was Vega who placed his hand into Kaidan's.

"I can't believe you pulled one over me." Though his bruised pride showed through his eyes, there was still a smile on his face.

Kaidan gave a sly grin. "Payback's a bitch, Vega." He then patted the other man on the shoulder. "But, really, though, it was a good game."

Miranda walked by, with Tali walking kind of wobbly beside her. She looked over at Cortez and Vega. "Lt. Cortez, Meathead, it was a pleasure playing against you, but, if you would excuse me, Tali and I have some things to discuss in private."

With that, the two women were off.

Kaidan started looking around now, and spotted Shepard off in the distance with Garrus. "You know, I better be off too. I wanna go spend some time with John."

Now, it was just Cortez and Vega.

"What do you wanna do now?" Vega asked, as the two made their way over to where they had left their beers earlier.

Steve thought for a moment, and then he looked at his friend. "I think I'm gonna make a sand castle."


	9. Walk

As Tali walked away to give Joker his medicine at EDI's request, Shepard was still in an elated shock from her request just minutes ago.

'I know it is a human tradition for the father of the bride to walk her to down to the alter, and it is something I would like to do. So, Shepard, will you give me the honor of allowing you to give my hand to Garrus at my wedding?'

Of course he had agreed to.

"You know, not even weddings of the Primarchs on Palaven are nearly as involved as this wedding is going to be." Garrus said as he watched Tali walk away. "Then again, when you're combining customs from turian, quarian, and human traditions, you kind of are asking for a big spectacle."

"Intimidated?" Shepard asked, turning to his friend.

"Mildly." Garrus admitted. "I only yearn to go on a suicide mission every other day."

Shepard let out a slight chuckle. "Well, just to let you know, don't call me up about any. I'm forbidden on having any more of those; doctor's and boyfriend's orders."

"Tali would kill me if I tried, so I do it the turian way: drink myself under a table." Garrus sighed. "Speaking of drinking, I could go for something right about now, how about you Shepard?"

John shook his head. "Another thing I can't do. One of the worst parts about the damned medication I'm on." He then noticed the look on Garrus' face, one of regret about mentioning it. "Hey, don't worry, you go ahead and drink… I've… I've picked up other vices to make up for it."

"Oh, really?" Garrus was almost afraid. "I'm pretty sure I don't want to know about yours and Kaidan's sex life and how it's like a high-flying biotic trapeze act."

The turian's words cracked a big grin out of John. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

Shepard just shrugged. "Okay, your loss. Now, how about we go pick up your drink, and get what I need to get."

The two made their way over the containers with all the things Liara had brought for them. Garrus first took off the webbed gloves and boots of his swimsuit before he went to one container and pulled out a bottle of dextro-brandy.

Shepard, on the other hand, was sneaking around another container, keeping an eye out for something, or more like someone. When he was satisfied that all was clear, he pulled out a small silver box and a small metallic object, and quickly slid both onto the right side of his bathing suit. "Come on, Garrus, let's walk somewhere… more private."

"John, I'm flattered, but I have no intention of being on the bad side of a Spectre because he thinks I fooled around with his boyfriend. So, you better keep your hands to yourself, Shepard, because I know I will." Garrus teased as he followed Shepard away from everyone else.

They were pretty far down the beach away from most everyone else when Shepard pulled out the objects from his bathing suit, opened the box, pulled out and lit one of the cigarettes, and proceeded to take a very long and deep drag.

"Does Kaidan know you picked up smoking?" Garrus asked, though, he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"I only smoke occasionally." He said defensively as smoke came out of his mouth. "When I'm bored… or can't sleep… or right after sex… sometimes during sex…"

"Mhmm. 'Occasionally.' Sure" Garrus gave him a judgmental look while he did the air quotes with his hands as Shepard took another drag.

"But, yeah, he won't get off my case about it either…" Shepard sighed, smoke coming from his mouth, "even though I've caught him sneaking off with one or two every now and again when he's been drinking and really stressed out."

Shepard's expression changed suddenly, becoming more serious. "These past four years have really been tough for Kaidan: he's always busy with Spectre work and he still has to deal with my stupid ass. First, actually dying, then the Cerberus debacle, followed by the Crucible, and finally…" his voice suddenly dropped to a barely whisper "how I… well… that day at the orchard."

Garrus placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder. "We all knew you were a time-bomb, John. It wasn't a matter of if, but when and how big. We didn't think it would have been as bad as what did happen, but, it's not like you have ever been the most predictable person."

"I just wished Kaidan wouldn't have been the one to me. I wish it would have been EDI or Chakwas, since they were there with us at the time, or anyone else, but not him." Shepard's voice was deeply solemn.

Garrus gasped. "I… I didn't know it was Kaidan who found you."

"When he broke down earlier, I think, no, I know he was talking about it. I've only seen him that emotional once."

"I'm guessing it was when he finally talked to you about when he found you."

John nodded. "When I woke up in the psych ward, first thing he did was punched me. Doctors came rushing in, but, he pulled the 'Spectre card', and a gun, and to told them to 'get the fuck out' while he talked to me. For three hours, he tore into me, crying most of the time, and he ended it by saying that if I ever thought about trying something that ridiculously stupid again, he was going to break up with me." He closed his eyes as he shook his head. "All that I put him through, and he still refused to leave my side. I felt like I didn't deserved him anymore, but he told me to stop thinking like that; it was my introspectiveness that had got me into that dark place to begin with, and even if he had to kick my ass to do it, he was going to pull me back into a better frame of mind." A smile came across his face now. "That was the day I decided I was going to marry him."

Now the turian was caught off guard. "I haven't heard anything you two getting married."

Shepard's smile turned playful. "He doesn't know yet. Well, he may have his suspicions, but I haven't asked him yet; I'm not ready for it. First, I want to get better, get off these last two meds for my messed-up head, so he doesn't have to worry about me like he does now."

"Kaidan is always going to worry about you, Shepard."

"I know." He let out a sigh, and finally noticed how his cigarette had burned out. He put the butt back into the pack and lit another one, took a drag, then spoke again. "He worries about me too much, though, and it's because of my condition and my medication. He wants me to be in a better frame of mental health again, and, before I kiss him at that alter, I want to be healthy again too, damn it."

"And you totally want to get smashed at the reception, too." Garrus quipped.

Shepard tried to look offended. "I'm trying to be serious here, Garrus." He playfully punched the turian in the chest.

"Well, you're being too damned depressing."

"I know." Shepard replied with a grateful smile. "Good thing I have friends who won't let me stay depressed… and who keeps an eye on me so I don't do anything so stupid again."

"Damn right."

The two gave each other nods of acceptance before they resumed their walk along the beach, with Garrus drinking his brandy and John smoking his cigarettes.

A bit further down the beach, as they passed a rock jutting from the side of the cliff wall, a sudden sound caused them to turn around.

EDI walked out from a crevasse in the cliff side. "Shepard, Kaidan has expressed several times his great displeasure of you smoking."

Shepard and the turian looked at EDI, and Shepard, in defiance, took a long drag from his cigarette, and then slowly blew the smoke from his mouth. "Remind him of his hypocrisy the next time his is drunk then."

"I do, constantly." EDI replied. "He often tells me to 'shove it' when I do."

EDI's comment made Garrus laugh, and then he looked at Shepard. "I think you two are doing better than you give each other credit: if you're ballsy enough to mouth off to your own ship, you're doing a lot better than you think. Hell, you'll probably be off that medication pretty soon, so stop worrying."

"I do believe Dr. Chakwas intends to remove Shepard from his medication all-together soon." Those words that EDI spoke brought a smile to Shepard's face, which only grew as she continued on. "He has made great progress in his therapy sessions, as well as showing a significantly less amount of abnormal negative emotional reactions over the past year."

Garrus placed a re-affirming hand on Shepard's shoulder. "Like I said, you worry too much Shepard."

"Old habits die hard." Shepard shrugged.

"Well, considering it's you we're talking about, it's a safe bet to say your old habits are practically immortal."

The man and the turian shared a good, long laugh.

EDI then spoke up. "It has been pleasant talking with you, John and Garrus, but, I feel like I should return to my current task."

"Oh, that reminds me." Garrus began, "What exactly are you doing that's so important you asked Tali to bring Joker his medicine."

"I am collecting seashells, in place of Professor Solus." She replied as she held up her basket to let them both see. Inside were about 15 shells of different shapes, sizes, and colors. "I wish to take them to the site where the Shroud once stood the next time we visit Tuchanka."

Shepard gave her a big smile. "He would have loved this, I'm positive."

She then excused herself, and continued her search for shells further down the beach.

"EDI may be a synthetic, but she seems more and more human every time I see her." Garrus said to Shepard as they both watched her walking away. "Call me crazy, but, I wouldn't be surprised that soon she might talk to Joker about marriage or adoption soon."

"She wants to get a puppy." Shepard said as the lit another cigarette.

"Well… I'll be damned." Garrus said with a chuckle, before turning to look at Shepard, observing the man lighting another cigarette. "Wow, are you like a chain smoker or something?"

"I smoke like I drink: until I run out or I get cut off." He gave his cheesy classic 'Shepard' grin. "It helps that the lungs Cerberus put in me are better than regular ones, or I'm pretty sure I would be coughing up tar by now."

"Only you could say something so mildly morbid like that so casually." There was almost a touch of awe in the turian's tone.

They soon found their way heading back to everybody else now, and by this point, Shepard really wasn't caring who saw him smoke as he was being entertained by Garrus recalling one of his old C-Sec stories. He didn't notice Kaidan until the other man pulled the cigarette from his hand.

"I thought I told you that you should quit." Kaidan held it in between his thumb and his forefinger and for a moment before taking a drag off it, followed by taking a swig of his lager.

Shepard pulled out another one and lit it. "Yep, you did, and I told you I would think about it." He paused for a moment, exhaled the smoke, and with a cheeky grin replied "Still thinking about it."

"You're kind of cute when you're being a smartass, John." Kaidan said as he gave the other man a quick peck on the cheek.

Shepard squeezed Kaidan's ass. "And you're really cute when you talk about my ass."

"And the two of you are nauseating when you're being all 'cutesy'." Garrus added as he walked away.


	10. Frisky

Cortez was sitting on the sand, with a bucket of water to his left and a large pile of sand in front of him. He added small amounts of water to the sand, sometimes adding some dry sand from around him, attempting to get the right consistency before he began to build up the structure.

Vega stood behind him, watching. "Seems like this isn't the first time you've made a sandcastle, Esteban."

"I remember when I was a kid my dad would take me to the beach of whatever world we were on at the time. He taught me all the little tips and tricks to making the perfect castles." Cortez replied. "Until he died a few years back, we would still meet up at least once a year and go to the beach."

Vega kneeled beside his friend, watching him starting to pile up the sand into some basic structures. "I remember my uncle taking me to the beach a few times when I was little, when my dad had promised to but ended up too dusted-up to function. They were pretty good times, even though the beaches were always crowded back on Earth during the summer."

Cortez suddenly stopped. "Damn it. I just realized something."

"What, Esteban?"

The other man bumped his fist into his forehead. "I don't think there's anything here to do some digging and detail work on this."

Vega laughed. "You take your sandcastles serious, eh, amigo?" He then patted the man on the shoulder as he stood up. "Don't worry, though. I have something back in my stuff: a swiss army knife."

That made Cortez crack up laughing. "Why do you have such an ancient thing, Jimmy?"

The larger man gave a firm smack to the back of the other's head. "Hey, don't laugh. My uncle got me one long ago as a bit of a gag gift, but I love the damn thing. It's got little doo-dads that should be perfect for doing your crazy detailing you want to do."

With that, Vega turned about and headed back towards the buildings they had changed earlier that day. Along the way, he ran into Tali.

"Vega!" She said a little bit too loud. "What are you up to?"

She stumbled a bit, but Vega caught her. "Nothing much, Tali. I'm just going to grab something from my dress pants because Cortez needs it for his sandcastle."

The quarian gave him a confused look. "What is a 'sandcastle'?"

Vega laughed. "Just go sit over by Cortez and I'm sure he'll yack your ear off about what they are; apparently, he's a bit of secret fanatic about them."

Tali gave him a nod, and then began, in a slightly wobbly jog, to head over to where Cortez was. Vega watched her, just in case she fell down, but, as soon as he saw her sit by the other man, he continued on his way to retrieve his knife. He didn't notice Miranda walking out from behind a tree until it was too late.

The two collided, and she almost fell, but Vega caught her before she could.

As soon as she regained her footing, Miranda pushed him away, with a little aid from her biotics. "Watch where you're going, meathead."

Vega looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming from behind the tree. What were you doing behind it, anyways?"

She shot him a dirty look. "Whatever I was doing, it's none of your concern. Just stay out of my business."

Up until this point, Vega had been as nice and as polite as possible. Maybe it was because everyone else was around them then. But, now that they were alone together, something in him snapped, and his attitude flared up. "Hey, chica, I've been nothing but respectful to you all day, but at every turn, you've been a total pinche puta. I can almost understand the hostility at first, when you didn't know I was one of Loco's amigos, but for the rest of the day? What's your deal!" The sides of his massive, tattooed neck seemed to flare out in anger.

Miranda's brilliant blue eyes narrowed into a gaze that could almost kill. "I could ask you the same thing: no one as nice as you. You're Alliance and I'm wanted by them, yet you turn your head and just let me go?"

"The Major and Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy do it all the time, but you don't treat them like shit!" He shot back. "What makes me so different than them?"

"Me and Shepard have a history together, and everyone knows it: I brought him back to life and then I brought him back from the edge of death after the Reapers were defeated. Everyone in the Alliance knows anyone from the Normandy will NOT turn me over because they know how grateful Shepard is to me and how much goddamn respect his old crew has for him!"

"Even if I was never part of Shepard's crew, which apparently you keep forgetting I was and am about to be again. I know I wouldn't turn you in. The Miranda Lawson I've seen today is not the dangerous terrorist the Alliance paints you out to be. Despite being a bit uptight at times, you are an incredibly good person at heart. You care about everyone here, and you would risk your own freedom to be with a friend." He took a deep breath and then let it out. He then changed his tone to a somewhat calmer one. "Whatever, though. Think what you want of me, and treat me however you want. I don't care anymore. Adios, puta."

Miranda was speechless as he stomped past her into the building where he had changed earlier.

Inside, Vega let out a primal scream as he stopped around for a bit before he slammed his fist into one of the doors of the stalls, leaving a large dent in it. "Damn it, James, what the hell did you just do?" He cursed to himself. Vega knew that if his uncle was here and still alive, the man would be kicking's his ass right about now for how much he had disrespected her by calling her such horrible things. "I need to apologize to her."

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're mad?" It was Miranda, but, the tone of her voice was different, softer, now. Her body language matched it, as she carried herself somewhat reservedly now.

Vega quickly collected himself and nodded his head. "Bad habit." He then took a deep breath, before he walked over to Miranda. "I'm sorry. I was out of line and…"

Miranda gently placed her hand over his mouth. "No, you weren't out of line, at all, James."

Vega almost had to do a double-take when he heard her say his first name.

She continued on though. "I have been a bit of a fucking bitch to you, today. I had no right, I… I just have some trust issues: get used, betrayed, and screwed over as many times as I have been, and that tends to happen. I put up this front of being cold and all-business, yet… it's lonely."

She turned around and took a few steps back from Vega. "The first person I ever really opened up to was Shepard, but… well, that's in the past. I have some good friends now because of him, but I still put up barriers to things that are unknown to me, because… I'm afraid of getting hurt."

Vega slowly walked up to her and placed one of his big, rough hands on her shoulder. He felt her body move at his touch. "Hey, Miranda, you don't have to be afraid of me. I can be your friend just like everyone else. You can trust me."

That brought a laugh from Miranda. "You're so dense it's almost kind of cute." The look of confusion she saw on his face brought a smile to hers. "I won't lie, it would be nice getting to know you more now, but, since I've laid eyes on you at the space port, I've had different… ideas… in mind." She put her hand on his chest and began to slowly push him backwards.

Vega's face started getting red, as the pieces began to fall together. "Wait, so they way you've been treating me all day has been because you like me?"

"No, I didn't say I it's because I like you. Honestly, I don't know what my emotional feelings about you are yet." A wicked smile crossed her face. "I've been a bitch to you because I couldn't admit to myself that I've wanted to pin you against a wall all day to do very, very naughty things to you."

Her skin surged blue and James soon found Miranda arms around him and her lips against his, kissing his with a ferocious lust. He found his hands now against her back, moving with fiery passion as he returned the kiss with the same physical lust as she. As hands explored exposed flesh, the two clumsily made their way into the stall that Vega had punched open.

Miranda broke off her vicious attack with her lips to say breathlessly "Like I said earlier, I'm going to make you my bitch."

Once they were in, a blue field surrounded it and slammed it shut, giving the two some privacy.

***

Dealing with Kaidan when he had been drinking was something John had always enjoyed, mainly because the other Spectre always got a little frisky. He never complained when his boyfriend's hand slipped through clothing to get a handful of flesh from his backside. It was rather nice as the two walked down the beach, with Shepard's arm draped around Kaidan.

"Seriously, John, I know I say this all the time, but, damn, you have a nice ass." Kaidan said as he leaned his head on Shepard's shoulder. "Not as nice as mine, but, still, it's incredibly nice."

"Cocky much?" Shepard replied with a lively laugh as he leaned his head against Kaidan's. "Who corrupted that poor, reserved, always-broody Kaidan I met 7 years ago? You know, the one that had a black little rain cloud over his head all the time?"

Kaidan laughed. "It was this one guy who's a little shorter than me, with dark hair and these deep, blue eyes you can just get lost in. He's the cockiest, most bull-headedly stubborn, and honest-to-God amazing son of a bitch I've ever met, even though he can't dance for shit."

"I like the sound of the guy." There was a smirk on Shepard's face. "Let's call him up and have a threesome."

"You would have sex with yourself if you could." Kaidan tease as he let out a laugh.

The found themselves near a little alcove of the cliff wall. Shepard pulled Kaidan from his side, around front of him, and then pressed him against the rather flat but slightly rough wall of stone before passionately kissing him. Neither noticed nor cared about the bottle of lager that had fell from Kaidan's hand and spilled to the ground.

Kaidan responded in kind, taking small little nips at the other man's lower lip. His hands began to moved up and down along the scarred backside of Shepard.

John finally pulled his lips away after a few moments. "Hey, Kaidan… do you think about our future together? How it's going to play out?"

Kaidan brought his hands to the sides of John's face, and pulled him in to kiss his forehead. "All the time, John, but I keep it to myself because I don't want to talk about it until you are ready to. I know how focused you are about getting better, so I don't want to bring it up until you're ready." He then lifted John's face so that their eyes locked. "So, is this about to turn into a 'you're ready' conversation?"

There was a slight bit of sorrow in John's eyes when he shook his head no. "Soon, but not today; I hope you're not angry with me."

Kaidan gave him a comforting smile. "Never. I will wait from now until eternity for you, John Shepard… my mother on the other hand, she keeps not-so-subtly hinting at things."

That cracked a smile onto Shepard's face. "Well, I promise, neither you nor your mother, or mine since we're on the mom subject, is going to have to wait much longer." He went to kiss Kaidan again, but was stopped by him.

"There is one thing I want to talk about our future, really quick, though. It has something to do with me."

John raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What is it that you want to talk about?"

Kaidan took a deep breath. "Well, this being my 20th year in the Alliance, I've been in long enough to retire, and, John, I'm going to, as well as resign from the Spectres."

"This isn't because of me, is it, because you don't have to do it just to…"

Kaidan cut him off. "No, it's not because of you. This has been something I've thought about since you died on the first Normandy, and especially more so after I began training my students." He took a deep breath, and began to explain further. "I just turned 39 a few months ago, and I don't know I want to become a Career soldier like I had planned anymore. I want to go back to Vancouver, open a school for biotics so families don't feel the need to send their children to Alliance-sponsored stations worlds away, and build myself a quasi-normal life."

John smiled. "So, this is just for you then?"

Kaidan nodded.

"Well, I might have to steal your life plan, since it sounds so nice."

Kaidan laughed. "I thought you said we weren't going to be talking about future plans of us together just yet."

"Who said I was going to start a school with you?" John teased "I'm going to open my own school for biotics in Vancouver."

"Like hell you are!" Kaidan said as he moved his mouth to Shepard's neck, playfully biting and sucking it.

Shepard broke out laughing as he took a few steps back, with Kaidan following him with his mouth still attached to him. "And I'll call it the John Shepard Institute for Gifted Youngsters!"

Kaidan pulled his mouth off Shepard to say "Oh, REAL original, Professor S." He then returned to biting and sucking and kissing at the other man's neck.

The two tripped and fell down onto the sand beneath them, as John retorted as he landed on his back "Hey, it's not like kids these days have a comic collection like you that spans 200 years of material, so they totally won't get the reference."

Kaidan pulled back from John's neck again and looked him in the eyes. "Mm-hm. Sure, they won't know until they do an extranet search."

Seeing the man who saved the galaxy from something that had caused mass genocide for eons was a totally baffling and completely hilarious sight.

"You ruin all my fun, Kaidan." John pressed his already full lips out to make them pouty and fuller.

Kaidan brought his face in-close with Shepard's, his lips a hair's length above the lips of the man beneath him. "I'll just have to make it up to you right now then." He positioned his body over Shepard's and a hand began to move further and further down the chest of the man on the ground, until finally finding what it had been searching for, below Shepard's waist.

John nodded "Yeah, you do." Their lips finally met again.

The two men were glad for the secluded alcove they stumbled into. That, and their friends were out of hearing distance.


	11. Chapter 11

"Checkmate… again." Samantha tried not to gloat more, but her efforts were in vain.

Liara just gave the woman in front of her a reserved, pleased smile. "Okay. Okay. I admit defeat, and, I think after five games, I think we can call it a day. But, just to let you know, in real life my last move would have worked."

Liara's words cracked Samantha up. "You sound just like Shepard; he said something pretty similar when I played him at a game of chess years ago."

"John rubs off on people easily." Liara replied, "I am going to have to study this game more, so that the next time we have the chance to play, I will have a better idea of what will and won't work."

The woman in front of the asari smiled as she began placing the pieces back into their case. "I can't wait."

Liara took her glass of wine and then began to look around the beach. On one side of the beach, Shepard and Kaidan were walking off in one direction, while Garrus was heading away from them and back towards the center of the beach. EDI was knee-deep in the water, searching for something in the water. On the other, Joker sat in the chair he had been in most the day, Cortez was piling sand up as Tali sat beside him, and Vega was walking into one of the changing rooms, with Miranda right on his toes. She sighed then smiled. "It is a very pleasant sight to see everyone together again. They all look so relaxed that you would have never guessed we had all tempered our friendships during the heat of battle."

"No." Samantha agreed.

"I honestly wished we had more days like this: days we can just sit and laugh and talk and have fun."

Samantha nodded in agreement. "I know things have been difficult for everyone since the end of the war, with the rebuilding of not only the relay networks and worlds, but each of our lives since we have all lost something… some more than others. One day soon, though, I am positive we will have the time to have more days like these." She then stood up and offered a hand to Liara. "Now, I've had you for a few games of chess and a bottle of honey mead, let's go over to everybody else and see what they are doing."

Liara took Samantha's hand and rose. "It seems rather mundane for the most part, though Cortez is doing something with a pile of sand as Tali watches."

Samantha looked over to where the man and the quarian were sitting and laughed. "That bastard started building a sandcastle and didn't tell me? Ooooooo… I'm going to thump him in the ear." She started to make her way over towards them.

"I assume that sandcastle is a human custom of some sort?" Liara was slightly confused as she followed behind.

"You could say that." Samantha nodded.

Liara laughed. "Humans still amaze me sometimes with the odd things they do."

When the two reached Cortez and Tali, they found the two sitting on the sand in the heat of a debate.

"Sand mixed with water is structurally unsound and will not last a day." Tali said with a slight slur. "We should compact it with some eezo."

From the look in his face, Cortez was trying his best to not get snippy with her. "That's not the point, Tali. THIS is how you're supposed to make it, and THAT'S the way I'm going to do it, so save the eezo for something else."

"But!"

Samantha kneeled beside the quarian woman and placed. "Tali, would Steve ever question you or any other quarian about their way around a drive core?"

Tali pouted her lips in irritation. "No…"

"So please, don't question a person about the way they make a sandcastle, because some people will take it personal."

Liara sat down beside Cortez as she watched his hands move in artisan motions through the dampened sand, forming it into basic shapes with motions that only years of experience could do. "I do not wish to disturb you from your work, Steve, but, I have to ask, why do you make this? It will eventually erode away, so why put so much effort into this?"

"It reminds me of the summers I spent with my father, before he died. The two of us bonded so much over building these things together. Making this… it's like I'm 10 again, my dad is still alive, and everything in my life is really good." A warm smile came to his face.

"Could you teach me how to do make a 'sandcastle' then?"

The man's hands suddenly stopped, and he thought for just a moment before he removed his hands and nodded. "Yeah, I will. It's always more fun to do this with someone else, I think." He turned his head to Tali. "And, since Vega is taking his sweet-ass time bringing back something I need, I'll even teach you how to do it, and the proper way, without eezo."

Cortez began demonstrating to the two alien females the way his father taught him: the right blend of water to sand, how to always build more and then take away, and how to fix mistakes and strengthening weak sides. Liara picked it up surprisingly fast: her hands moving as if they had been doing so for years after just minutes of practice. Tali, on the other hand, was having some difficulties, though part of that could have been attributed to her state of mild inebriation. Regardless, she was cussing up a storm in her native language.

"I have no idea what you all are doing," the humming voice of Garrus sounded out as he walked up to the group "but, considering the foul language Tali is spouting out is usually reserved for when somebody really screw up something, I think I have every right to be afraid."

"Steve is teaching us how to make sandcastles, Garrus." Liara said, as she was delicately sculpting something that looked eerily similar to a Prothean Beacon with her hands. "It is rather enjoyable and relaxing. Would you like to join us and learn as well?"

"Thanks for the offer, but…" he held up his taloned hands. "Turians don't exactly have the best tools for what that looks like. If any of you need some calibrations though, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"No calibrations needed." Cortez replied. There was some irritation in his voice, and he looked around behind him towards the two buildings. "What the hell is taking Vega so damn long? It's been like 40 minutes since he went to get that damned knife of his."

Garrus's eyes shot up over to look at the buildings too. They were slightly obscured by the foliage at this angle, so it wasn't a surprise Cortez couldn't see them. Most humans had bad vision compared to turians, so while the man couldn't see Vega's obnoxiously bright "bathing suit", to Garrus it took hardly any effort. "Don't worry, Cortez, Jimmy's on his way."

Steve was well-aware of turian's superior eyesight. "About damn time." He groaned.

"…and…" Garrus continued on, to everyone's surprise, "looks like Miranda is with him."

"Why would Miranda be with him?" Tali asked, confused. "After I was done talking with her about being one of my bridesmaids, she told me she found him irritating. Though, she also kept going on and on about his abs and got a little defensive sometimes, which was kind of weird…" Tali had confused herself even more.

"Maybe whatever issues they had, they worked it out between them?" Liara suggested.

As the two came into a better view as they got closer, Garrus noticed the way they were walking, how the odd distance they were walking to one another, and how oddly flustered the two looked. "Oh, I'm positive something got worked out between them."

Samantha gasped at the scandalous implications of Garrus' words. "Noooooo…" She couldn't believe it.

"Hey, that last month of the war on the Normandy, it should have been renamed the SSR Sex Shack. Even the good Dr. Chakwas was getting it on with Adams." Garrus began to jest. "I have good eyes, and I came to notice you humans do this thing, that getting all red and flustered bit, after your little 'workouts' and 'examination'."

"And turians and quarians don't know how to lock a door…" Liara effortlessly slid the little jab in as she casually worked at the sand before her.

"I, um… yea… ugh…" Garrus was flustered. "…I really don't like you right now, Liara."

Vega jogged up the last little stretch to Cortez, not noticing how all eyes were on him and Miranda. "Here it is, Esteban." He held out his knife for Cortez to take, but the other man didn't grab for it. It was only after a few moments of silence that Vega finally realized the eyes on him. "Hey, what's everybody's deal?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Jimmy." The metallic hum in Garrus' voice was practically singing with amusement. "We're just admiring that radiant glow from you and Ms. Lawson."

Miranda's face turned bright red and her eyes shifted away, while Vega tensed up and a guilty look spread across his face.

Garrus tried to contain his snicker, but failed for just a second before putting on his straight face once again. "You have to be honest about something; did she traumatize you at all? Hurt you? Make you cry? We need to know these things because we all know how much of a delicate flower you are, Vega, and we're concerned for your safety."

"You're a pendejo, Garrus." Vega finally barked as he flipped the turian off.

Garrus shrugged. "Not sure what that means, but I know I've been called worse."

While all the attention was on Vega, Miranda and snuck around and sat beside Tali. "I am so glad they're focusing on James" she whispered to the quarian woman.

"No one is that stupid to say anything to you and expect to survive." Tali said with a slight chuckle.

Miranda gave a pleased smile. "Glad I still carry an ounce of fear-induced respect with everyone."

After a few more minutes of Garrus grilling Vega, the swiss army knife was finally handed to Cortez, and the man practically glowed with excitement. "This is great. Now I can show everyone how to get some really good details."

Tali and Liara watched Cortez show off some more of his tricks to sculpting sandcastles, and he went over to them both to help them when they needed. Liara was pretty good on her own, only asking Cortez over for the occasional opinion on how things were going. Tali needed a bit of help, but, as she sobered, she finally started to get the hang of things.

During the same time, Miranda, James, and Samantha joined in on making towers and walls of their own, and Cortez finally resumed work on the castle he had begun a few hours before. It soon became apparent that the group had not really planned ahead and were finding each other's sand sculptures starting to grow closer and closer to everyone else's.

"This sucks." Tali said as she looked for a place to keep working. "I was just starting to get the hang of it too."

"Get the hang of what?"

It was Shepard. He and Kaidan were walking hand-in-hand over to everyone else. No one asked where they had been because everyone there had a functioning brain.

"Steve taught Tali and I how to make sandcastles." Liara said gently. "Of course, mine has turned into a Prothean Temple and Tali's resembles a crashed Liveship, but Steve has assured me that isn't the point."

"Yeah, Liara, it doesn't have to be like a castle. Look at Miranda; she's making a miniature mansion, and Samantha's making a colony. Unfortunately, we built everything too close together and were going to run into each other's works." Cortez said, in a sadden voice.

"Why not just do it then?" Shepard said so matter-of-factly. "I mean, don't knock stuff down, but, just connect everything."

"Shepard, I know asking you to explain to us your thought process is a damn-near impossible task," Garrus said, "but, please, indulge me: how the hell does that make any sense?"

Shepard laughed. "Hey, you and Tali should realize what I mean considering you want to do the same thing with your wedding: taking a little bit of this culture, a little bit of that, gapping together the parts so they fit together, all because you want to involve people who matter to you."

Shepard walked over to Cortez's castle, found a clump of damp sand near it, and started building off of it.

It looked as if Cortez was about to have a heart attack for a minute when Shepard had touched his work, but, then he let out chuckle. "Hey, one of my favorite of making a great sandcastle was working together with someone else. What the hell, it sounds like a good idea."

Kaidan soon came down besides Shepard and began working with him. "You're kind of amazing when you just do things, John."

Shepard laughed. "Part of my boyish charm, I guess."

Kaidan nodded in agreement.

Soon, everyone had joined in on connecting each other's works together, blending styles and aesthetics. By the time that hints of red were beginning to show in the sky a few hours later, the group had pulled back to observe their combined work. They had gone beyond just connecting things: each person had seemed to add a little extra something here and there to the each of the other's initial design, and everything just seemed to blend together.

"What in the hell do you call this?" Garrus asked bluntly.

"A… prothean live-castle colony?" Kaidan threw out there.

Garrus shrugged. "If no one else can come up with something better, let's go with that."

"At the end of every day I would go to the beach with my dad, we would take a vid or a holo or something to remember what we did by." Cortez said, with sentiment in his voice.

Liara activated her omnitool, and, suddenly, Glyph appeared.

"How can I assist you, Dr. T'soni?" the VI requested.

"I need you to record this sculpture of sand for a vid and holo."

"Do not do so yet, Liara." EDI's voice came from behind them. She walked up to them with Joker by her side. "I wish to show you all something before you document your sand sculptures."

Everyone circled around EDI as she kneeled down to the ground and began to remove the seashells one-by-one from the basket she had. They were all of different brilliant colors: red, silver, blue, white and pink, metallic black, while some had the most beautiful and intricate designs on them. They were of all different shapes and sizes.

"These are gorgeous shells, EDI," Miranda began, "but is there a point to showing them to us?"

"Yes, Miranda. Everything will come together, once you see this one; the last one." EDI placed it down on the ground, in the center of them all.

"Well… I'll be damned…" Shepard said, stunned. "That shell looks just like Mordin's head. It's the same color and has the missing horn too."

"You're right, Shepard. And, look at the three large shells: the red, silver, and royal purple ones. Those three remind me of Wrex, Grunt, and Bakara."

"The one with the hole is Legion!" Tali said with a tearfully happy gasp.

Garrus had his eyes on a purple shell and a blue shell with a bit of damage to it. "Hey, look Tali, there's us." He wrapped her in one of his arms and pointed with his free hand.

"That one right there sort of looks like the Normandy." James pointed to the largest of the shells.

"This one…" Kaidan kneeled down and picked up the pink and white shell. "Ashely…"

"I'll be damned…" Miranda said in awe as she looked at the other shells and began making more and more connections. "These each represent everyone who has served with Shepard during that damned crazy war. How did you find these?"

"It was not my intent on collecting these shells for a specific reason; I was only doing as Specialist Traynor suggested and collected shells that 'spoke' to me." EDI replied. "I myself did not make the connection until finding the shell that resembles Professor Solus. The only conclusion I can come up to this is the speech that Kaidan gave earlier in this day; how he had mention all of Shepard's companions, the ones who still lived and the ones who were lost during the war. It must have created an unintended command prompt in my underlying processes, essentially creating an 'unconscious' desire to seek out shells that most resembled John's squads over the years."

"Hey, let's set them up around the castle." Tali said. "It would be as if everyone really were here today!"

Carefully, they all arranged most of the shells in front of the castle, with the Normandy shell going on top of the biggest, sturdiest tower. In the middle of all the shells, was a black shell with a single red stripe along its right side, representing Shepard, with the Mordin shell to its left a bit, and, pushed right up beside to the right of the Shepard shell, a silver shell with two blue stripes, in-place of Kaidan.

Once everything was set up, half the sky was red. Glyph began creating a vid of the scene, as well as data to compile a holo.

"Kaidan, after we leave Rannoch," Shepard began as he looked at the shells in front of the massive sand castle, "I think we have to swing by Tuchanka to drop off a gift. The council can wait a few extra hours."

"Yeah, they can." Kaidan nodded, then added "I know Ash would have loved this."

"Yeah, she would have."

"I believe Mordin would have said that the implications of this would be pleasant." EDI stated.

The 11 all stood there now, as a group that had become something more than what they started out to be, in silence, remembering the good times with the ones they had lost, and glad they were given one more chance to make a good memory with their fallen comrades. It was the perfect way to end a day at the beach.


End file.
